1965 Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley – Black Voices Series

As part of our Black Voices series, the UNITED and Westerly ARC present a screening and discussion of the historic Baldwin vs. Buckley debate of 1965 – connecting two monumental figures and their words which still resonate 60 years later.  

“Is the American Dream at the expense of the American Negro?” This was the topic on February 18, 1965 when an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to bear witness to a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America’s most influential conservative intellectual.

The stage was set for an epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin’s call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley’s unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy. This historic clash reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of racial conflict that continues to haunt America. Please join us in the screening of this historic debate connecting two monumental figures and listen to their words, which still resonate 60 years later.  A Q&A to follow.